Michael Lansing, associate professor of history at Augsburg College, was interviewed by Minnesota聽Public Radio for a segment that compared聽political movements from聽the early 1900s with the contemporary political landscape. Lansing is the author of 鈥淚nsurgent Democracy: The Nonpartisan League in North American Politics,鈥� which presents the history of The Nonpartisan League聽and describes its continued聽influence in the upper Midwest.
Lansing describes the League as a grassroots organization started by farmers who were discontent with聽large grain milling and transportation corporations in the region. He聽told MPR News host Tom Weber that The Nonpartisan League is the reason for the large number of co-operatives in North Dakota today, and the party was comprised聽of farmers who sought candidates that supported their platforms, regardless of party.
Listen to:聽聽(14 minutes) on the MPR聽site.
Tim Pippert, associate professor of sociology, was among the first sociologists to visit the Bakken oilfield region聽in western North Dakota and to research the social effects of the area’s聽rapid growth. Pippert contributed his expertise to a series of stories by the Forum News Service about sex trafficking in the Bakken, and the articles聽have been republished by media ranging from the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn., to the Daily Republic in Mitchell, S.D.